Thursday, 23 April 2015

When our lives
are upset by big changes we need time to vent, to rail against the unfairness
of it. And then we need to move forward.

Loadshedding
is one of those big changes that have turned our lives a bit upside down.

We’ve done
plenty of moaning about Eskom and the Government that got us into this
situation. Yes they stuffed up big time. And yes they haven’t really owned up
to that. Things will eventually change because new power stations are coming on
line as well as alternate contributors to the grid. All the complaining has
possibly contributed to getting Eskom and the Government to take the situation
seriously and make some changes. Now it is time to move forward.

Continuing to
complain isn’t going to change the situation. Unless you are taking yourself
off the grid completely you will be living with load shedding for another
couple of years. So let’s stop wasting our energy on the venting phase and get
onto moving forward.

There are
three main steps for moving forward from any big change:

·See the humour in
it

·Find the benefits

·Make adjustments to
align to the new reality

With respect to load
shedding we have been seeing the humour for awhile. South Africans are
generally very quick with that. I’m sure you’ve seen the one, "What did South
Africa use before candles? Electricity."

And some companies
are finding a way to make it work for them. "Blackouts? We'll introduce
you to switched on candidates," apparently appears on a billboard for a
recruitment agency.

Last weekend
we had two nights in a row with no power from 6pm to 10.30pm. A friend messaged
me on Whats App saying she quite enjoyed it as it “forced” her to relax. I
asked on my personal FB page what advantages others perceive in being load shed,
and someone commented on how beautiful the silence is without electrical
background hum.

So with a view
to moving ourselves forward what benefits can you find in being load shed? Get
imaginative! Who can come up with the longest list?